Separator and grader.



. J. W. LINKHART.

SEPARATOR AND GRADER.

APPLICATION FILED 11211.19, 1913.

1 1 1 2, 302, Patented Sept. 29, 191i 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1. F7, 1

J. W. LINKHART. SEPARATOR AND GRADER. APPLICATION FILED APR.19, 1913.

1, 1 1 2,302, Patented Sept. 29, 1914.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2,

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31L! ,1 Mo,

THE,HORRI$ PETERS CO" PHOYD-LITHQ. WASHINGIUN. L7 C.

UNITED STATES. PATE T OFFICE.

JOHN W. LINKHART, or Norurir VERNON, INDIANA.

SEPARATOR AND GRADER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented. Sept. 29, 1914.

Application filed April 19, 1913. Serial No. 762,259.

whereby cracked corn may be separated intovarious grades of fineness, such as. coarse cracked. corn for hen feed, fine cracked corn for chicken feed, bread meal and bran.

A further object of the invention is to produce a machine of the class described including a bolting sieve and a member supported for rotation in such relationto the sieve as to generate an air current, whereby the fine particles containedin the material passing over the sieve will be lit erally blown through the meshes thereof without being subjected to a rubbing action and without necessity for shaking or vibrating the screen.

A further object of the invention is to break up the coarse particles as they pass over the tail end of the screen and while being subjected to the blast from a cleanillustrated a simple and preferred form of the invention, it being, however, understood that no limitation is necessarily made to the precise structural details therein exhibited, but that changes, alterations and modifications within the scope of the claims may be resorted to when desired.

In the drawings,-Figure 1 is a longitudinal vertical sectional view of a machine constructed in accordance with the invention. Fig. 2 is a horizontal sectional view taken on the line 2-2 in Fig.1. Fig. 3 is a vertical transverse sectional view taken on the line 3-3 in Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a vert cal transverse sectional view taken on the hue 4-4 inFig. 1. a

: Corresponding parts in the several figures are denoted by like characters of reference.

The improved machine instead of being provided with legs or supporting members after the fashion of ordinary machines of this class, is intended to besupported below the ceiling of a room or by some suitable overhead supporting means, and to this end the casing A has been shown provided with supporting members 10 in the nature of planks which are suitably secured upon the ends of the casing and extend upwardly therefrom, it being understood that these supporting members may be connected in any convenient manner with some overhead support, and that braces of any kind may be employed to support the casing firmly in position at a suitable elevation over'the floor. In this mannerit is intended to support the machine in suitable proximity to a grinding outfit so that the product of the latter may be fed directly to theseparator.

Thecasing A, which is mainly of rectangular form, has a transverse partition 11, whereby it is separated into compartments B and G. In the larger compartment B which. is known as the bolting compartment there is fitted a screen or sieve 12 which is substantially U-shaped so as to present a bottom portion of semi-circular cross section. The end members 13, 14 of the casing are provided with bearings for a shaft 15 that extends longitudinally of the screen, said shaft being provided at one end with a pulley 16 for the purpose of receiving motion from a suitable source of power. The shaft 15 which is concentric with the semi-circular portion of the screen is provided with radial arms 17 carrying spirally disposed wings or heaters 18, the outer edges of which are materially spaced fromthe screen so that they will exert no rubbing action with respect to the screen or to material passing over the latter. Being spirally disposed, however, the wings will operate as a conveyer to induce material to travel over the screen, and it is to be par ticularly 1 understood that inuoperation the shaft'15 is to bespeeded sufiiciently to cause which access may be had to the interior,"'is

also provided with a feed hopper 21, where-. by material may be fed to the screen.

Adjacent to the compartment C of the casing and communicating therewith is a housing 22 wherein a fan 23 is supported for rotation, the shaft 24: of said fan being driven from the shaftl5 with which it is parallel by power transmitted in any,

suitable manner, such as a belt or band 25. Supported in the compartment C is a parti tion constituting a deflector 26 against which light material is thrown by the current generated by the fan, such light material being thus deflected into the bran chute 27 which is supported on one side ofthe casing by a hinge 28. The bran chute is separated from the outlet 29 by a partition member 30. A block or cleat 31 which is secured on the. inner face of the end member of the casing above the outlet 29 is provided with a plurality of spaced fingers 32 extending in the direction of and terminating slightly below the opening 19 in the partition 11 through which material passing over the screen is discharged. Such material, when coming from the screen will drop on the fingers 32 which are preferably made of steel wire or other resilient mate rial which, by the impact of material dropping thereon will be vibrated so as to cause the material to pass between said fingers, such material being thereby broken up so that it will be thoroughly subjected to the cleaning action of the air current generated by the fan. The cleaned coarse material will thus pass through the outlet 29, while the light material such as bran and the like will be'deflected into the bran chute 27 from-which it will escape. The casing is provided with a bottommember D which is supported by hinges 32 and which may be retained in closed position by supporting means such as hooks 33. The bottom member is provided with cant boards 34:

over which material passing through the sieve or screen is conveyed to the discharge chute 35.

It is preferred that the outlet 29 be in the nature of a spout 36 which is connected by hinges 37 with an end member of the casing so that said spout may swing out of the way when desired; supporting members such as hooks 38' being employed toconnect the free end of the spout with the bottom member D when the latter is in position. Bythis' arrangement, when From the foregoing description, taken in connection with the drawings hereto annexed, the operation and advantages of this invention will be readily understood. When cracked corn is fed to the machine it will drop onthe screen near one end of the caring and will be subjected to the action of the wings or beaters carried by the shaft 15 which is rotated at a considerable speed. The material will thus be thoroughly agitated and will, owing to the spiral shape of the wings, be fed in the direction of the discharge end of the screen, the air current generated by the wings serving to force the fine particles through the meshes of the screen below which the screened fine grade material passes the discharge chute 35; the coarse material discharged over the tail end of the screen is broken and scattered by contact with the fingers 32 and at the same time subjected to the action of the air current generated by the fan, whereby the bran and light material is separated from the product which is discharged through the outlet 29.

By using screens of different mesh the different grades of material may be varied, as will be readily understood. Hooks and eyes or other suitable supporting means are to be provided for the purpose of supporting the screen in position for operation; and it will be understood that owing to the spaced relation between the screen and the wings or blades 18 of the rotary shaft, said screen may be readily lifted from its supported position and moved to a position that will enable it to be dropped down through the bottom of the casing, thus enabling a screen of different mesh to be easily substituted.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new, is

1. In a separator and grader, a casing having end members and a transverse partition, a driven shaft supported for rotation in the end members and extending through the partition, a screen supported in one compartment of the casing and having a semicircular bottom portion, arms extending radially from the shaft within said compartment above the screen, spirally disposed wings carried by the arms in spaced relation to the surface of the screen, a housing adjacent to and communicating with the other compartment of the casing, a driven fan supported for rotation in said housing, an

inclined deflector supported to receive the the casing between the partition and one end member, said partition being provided with an opening for the passage ofmaterial discharged over the screen, means for feeding material over the screen in the direction of the discharge opening, resilient fingers mounted on the end member of the casing and having free ends extending in the direction of the discharge opening and terminating beneath the latter, an inclined deflector supported above the fingers, and means for generating an air current and for projecting the same in the direction of the defiector.

3. In a separator and grader, a casing having compartments, a screen supported in one compartment, means for feeding material over the screen and discharging it into the other compartment, resilient fingers supported in said other compartment in spaced relation to the screen compartment and having free ends extending in the direction of said compartment to receive material. discharged over the screen, a deflector supported above the fingers, and means for deflecting an air current and for projecting it against the deflector to separate light from heavy material.

4:. In a separator and grader, a substantially rectangular casing having a transverse partition, a screen supported in one compartment of the casing, a driven shaft extending longitudinally through the casing and having radially extending arms, spirally disposed blades carried by said arms in materially spaced relation to the upper 7 surface of the screen, a bottom member sup- 1 ported detachably beneath the screen and having cant boards and a discharge chute,

resilient fingers supported in the other compartment of the casing at a distance from the screen compartment and having free ends extending in the direction of said compartment to receive material discharged over the screen, an inclined deflector supported above the fingers, and means for generating an air current and for projecting it against the deflector, and means for guiding the separated material discharged over the screen,

5. In a separating and grading machine, a casing, supporting members whereby said casing may be suspended, a bottom member detachably connected with the casing and having cant boards and a detachable chute, an outlet spout hingedupon one end of the casing and having its free end detachably connected with the detachable bottom member, and abran chute hingedly supported on one side ofthe casin p a In testimony Whereoi I afiix my slgnature in presence of two witnesses.

JOHN W. LINKHART.

Witnesses RALPH W. Norms, EARL G. LINKHART.

Copies of 111: patent may be obtained to:

five cents each, by addressing the "Commissioner of Patents,

Wnhlngton, I). 0." a 

